Hes not confused or scared.
How the hell would you know what he is? Youve been a father less than twenty-four hours.
Not by choice.
Rhea squeezed her eyes shut, her concern for Nicci escalating. She didnt realize shed forgotten to breathe until a wave of dizziness stole her balance. She swayed, but before she fell, a strong hand gripped her upper arm. Startled, she blinked her eyes open to find Joey directly in front of her. His fingers bit into her arm as he stared down at her. Unable to hold his gaze, she looked past him to their reflection in the large gilded mirror behind the bar.
Joeys size dwarfed her, and again she realized that she was no match for him, and that maybe it would have been smarter to wait for Frank.
Suddenly he let go of her arm and walked around her. One or two scars Not bad. You didnt lose your eye.
From the mirror, she watched as he studied her as if she were on an auction block. He circled again, this time stopping behind her. Leaning in, his lips brushed her ear. Were you able to nurse my son?
The question might have seemed strange, even crude, to anyone else, but Rhea knew why Joey had asked it. Her dance with death had kept her in chest bandages for weeks. She had still been in them when shed left town. Nonetheless, the intimacy of the question brought a hot flush to her cheeks. She had slept with this man, had come apart in his arms, yet their affair hadnt really gotten under way until after Stud had put her through her bedroom window and in danger of losing her eye and her right breast.
He came around and faced her. Well?
The heat from her cheeks spread over her face and down her neck. Shed agreed to some reconstructive surgery to repair the damage, but then shed learned she was pregnant and had decided against it. Yes, I nursed Nicci. Not waiting for him to delve into her answer and embarrass her further, she stated, Are you telling me youre not going to let me see my son, Joey?
Hes not here. Hes spending the morning with a friend.
Rhea tensed. Hes with a stranger. Can you trust this person?
I wouldnt have left him with her, otherwise.
Her. Sophia DLano Hed left their son with his wife. Is she competent?
Of course shes competent.
How can you be sure? Niccis a very active child. If youre not used to dealing with children, then
Lavina Ward is used to children. And she would never let anything happen to my son.
That was not the answer Rhea had been expecting. Not at all. Are you saying Jacksons mother is watching over Nicci right now?
Thats right.
Jackson Ward wasnt only Joeys friend, he was her friend, too. At least, he had been three years ago. He had worked with her ex-husband at the police department. He was, however, nothing like Stud. Jackson was good and honest, and his mother was the reason he had grown up that way. She was a hard-working woman who supported her family as the owner of Caponellis Restaurant in Little Italy.
Shes agreed to help me out until I can hire a nanny.
Rheas maternal instinct flared. Nicci doesnt need a nanny, Joey. He needs his mother.
But not his father?
All right, yes, we made a baby. And, yes, I didnt tell you. But you werent honest with me, either. You never told me you were engaged to Sophia DLano. She spun away from him and walked deeper into his spacious office. Turning, she said, Im telling you right now, the only way your wife
will raise my son is over my dead body, Joey. Do you hear me? I wont abandon him out of fear of what youll do to me.
Wife? What the hell are you talking about?
Dont bother denying it, Joey. Your father told me about her.
The engagement, Rhea, was called off. I never married Sophia.
His words hit her like a straight-line wind off the Gulf.
You left Chicago because Frank told you I was getting married? Is that the story youre selling?
It was more complicated than that. Far more complicated. Rhea heard herself say, Our babys health was the most important thing. If you remember, I had my hands full trying to keep my ex-husband from killing me. Sooner or later, Stud would have shown up again. In bandages and pregnant, what chance did I stand against him?
So good old Frank offered you money and a free ride out of town, and you jumped on.
It wasnt exactly like that.
How exactly was it?
I hadnt been able to work. Money was an issue, but thats not what he offered. What he offered was something better than cash. He offered me a new life without pain, and a promise that Nicci would be safe.
At Santa Palazzo?
Yes. He guaranteed me that our child would be born in a safe environment. And he promised I would be able to raise him. You got Sophia, andI got our baby. It seemed fair.
Unexpectedly he moved, closing the distance between them so quickly that Rhea thought he was going to strike her. But instead, he curled his arm around her waist and jerked her up against his hard thighs. Has Frank touched you? he demanded. Have you been in my fathers bed?
No.
The truth, Rhea!
The question was absurd. Yes, she was close to Frank. He had become like a father to her.